Love Never Fades
by Ranmano1fan
Summary: AU. An Inuyasha/Ranma 1/2 Xover. Ran/Kag pairing. When accidents happen we never know what will be the results of it. And when one happens to Ranma, it sends his world crashing down upon him. What'll happen to his life now? You'll have to read to find out


**Love Never Fades**

An Inuyasha/Ranma 1/2 Crossover story

By: Ranmano1 fan

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. The only one I own is little Aya. The doctors, nurses, priest and other unnamed people are also mine though they aren't of much importance. All other characters (From both Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2) belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I am only borrowing them and will give them back when I am done or I need them for another story, whichever comes first (:p)

* * *

"Come on, I know you can do it. Push!" said Ranma, encouraging his wife, tenderly holding her hand.

Kagome shut her eyes tight, took a deep breath and clenched her teeth, straining all the muscles in her body to the task at hand. She started to scream, using every last bit of energy she had until she finally heard it.

The loud cry of new life filled the delivery room as the doctor said, "It's a girl!"

"Hear that? It's a girl," exclaimed Ranma, putting his forehead against Kagome's.

The young woman smiled at her husband, placed a hand on his cheek and the two of them kissed.

"You did it," he said after breaking away.

"_We_ did it," she corrected him with a big smile and heavy breaths.

He gave a little chuckle and kissed her again. "I'm gonna check on her and bring her over, okay?" he asked.

"Okay," replied Kagome, eyes half closed and sounding exhausted.

The young man turned and saw the nurse coming towards him with the newborn in her hands, wrapped up in a pink blanket. "Guess she's coming to me," he said with a small laugh.

The nurse was about to hand the baby over to the new father as he turned his head back to look at his wife when all the monitors in the room began to beep rapidly. Kagome's head was on it's side, but her eyes where closed and her smile wasn't there. Ranma whipped his back around and saw the nurse was removing the newborn from the room as doctors started to swarm around the new mother.

"B.P. and pulse are dropping: 110 over 70!" reported one of the doctors.

Ranma immediately returned to her side, "Kagome! Kagome, wake up." He wiped her matted bangs off her forehead as nurses were rolling and moving things around.

"90 over 60!" said the doctor, "Get her legs out of the stirrups and get him out of here!"

Two of the nurses came up to the young man and tried to usher him out of the room, "Please sir, we need you to wait outside."

"No, I'm not leaving her!" shouted Ranma, resisting to move from his spot.

"70 over 50! Get him out of here!" yelled the doctor.

The nurses took the young man by the arms and pushed him out the door with him trying to get by them and shouting, "Kagome! Kagome!..."

In the waiting room a whole group of people sat around patiently, waiting on any bit of news. Ranma's mother, Nodoka, and Kagome's mother, Asako(1), kept glancing at each other from across the room with worried looks. Kagome's best friend, Sango, was half-asleep, her head resting on the shoulder of her boyfriend, Miroku, as he sat there with his arms crossed, leaning back in the chair. Ranma's father, Genma, was fully asleep with his head tilted back against the seat, his mouth slightly open and snoring lightly. Kagome's grandpa, little brother Sota and friend Shippo were playing with a deck of cards the old man had brought with him. The clock on the wall seemed very loud to them due to the silence in the room as the seconds ticked by. Suddenly the swinging doors separating the waiting room to the rest of the hospital opened and everyone awake looked up. Standing before them was Ranma, who; still dressed in the sea-green outfit the doctor's gave him; had his gaze directed at the ground. Both Nodoka and Asako stood as he raised his head.

He smiled and said, "It's a girl."

Cheering erupted around the room with hugs abundant among the group, waking Genma in the process. Ranma however sat down in the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. Nodoka glanced over at her son after an uneasy hug from Asako and sat down with him.

"What's wrong, dear?" she asked. Her voice seemed to have carried because all the cheering had stopped.

"It's Kagome," he replied, his tone sullen.

The young woman's mother gasped and got on her knees next to her son-in-law, "What happened to my daughter?"

"I don't know. She was fine one minute and the next everything in the room went crazy," he reported.

The happy news drifted away like the wind as concern for the young mother replaced it. Again everyone in the room sat down and had to wait for more news.

The doctor came out about a half hour later and said, "Mr. Saotome?"

Ranma stood and asked, "How is she?"

The doctor motioned for him to follow back through the doors. On the other side, the young man tried again, "How is Kagome?"

"She's stable," said the doctor, allowing the boy to take a breath before continuing, "She blacked out from exhaustion, luckily we were able to stop her blood pressure and pulse from dropping any farther than it did."

The way the doctor finished his sentence made Ranma feel as though something was being left out. "But?" he wondered, hoping the feeling was wrong.

"But," started the doctor, "she hasn't regained consciousness. We-"

The rest was ignored as the young man walked away deeper into the hospital as he checked the rooms, looking for his wife. When he found her he could only stand in the doorway.She looked peaceful laying in the bed with the rhythmic, steady beeping of the monitors around her as she was breathing on her own.

The doctor was almost right behind him, "Sir?"

"How long will she be out?" Ranma asked.

"We don't know. A few hours, maybe. Possibly a couple of days," replied the physician.

The young man turned his eyes down and muttered a "Thank you" before the doctor walked away. Entering the room and sitting down in a chair next to the bed, Ranma took Kagome's hand in his own, interlocking the fingers, gently squeezing them together. But she didn't respond to his loving touch. He lifted her hand up and kissed the back of it and whispered, "Come on, Kags, wake up. You gotta wake up." There he sat for the next hour as everyone else came to visit. Asako didn't stay long, she couldn't bare seeing her daughter that way. They all offered up apologies to the young man, who accepting them with a little nod and a thank you. As the time rolled on and night began to set in the number of people in Kagome's room began to dwindle away, first the young woman's friends Shippo, Sango and Miroku had to go because they needed to get home. Then her grandpa and little brother because the kid had to get ready for school in the morning and the old man had to walk him home. Since Kagome's mom took an early leave only Ranma's parents were still there. They stayed another half hour before they too had to go.

Nodoka stayed behind for just a minute as Genma left the room. "I'm sorry, Ranma, but we have to get home," she said, getting on her knees next to her son, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna stay here, mom," he replied, "In case she wakes up."

The woman got up, kissed her boy on top of the head and told him, "Make sure you try to get some sleep then. We're going to stop by the nursery before leaving. Did you two decide on a name?"

"Aya," said the young man, "We picked it out a while ago. We knew we were going to have a girl for some time, but we didn't telling anyone. We wanted to keep it a secret."

"It's a beautiful name. I'll make sure to tell the nurses, "answered his mom, adding before leaving the room, "I'm sure Kagome will be fine. Going through 20+ hours of labor can be tiring on both the mother as well as the father. Especially for the mother."

"Thanks mom," said Ranma, giving her a small smile as she left.

The young couple wasn't alone for even five minutes before the doctor came in. He went around the room, checking all the steadily beeping monitors. Then he wrote something down on her chart.

"What's the news, doc?" asked Ranma.

"Things are looking good. No new developments, her vitals are steady, everything is just fine," answered the physician.

"That's good. Can you tell when she might wake up?" wondered the young man.

"Not yet, I'm afraid. I'll come back in the morning to check up on her again, we might know more than," replied the doctor, walking to the door.

"Thank you," said Ranma.

"Your welcome, sir, "responded the man, closing the door behind him, leaving it open a crack.

The young man got up to close the door all the way when he heard Kagome's doctor talking to another doctor outside the room.

"Is that the young woman that fell into a coma after going thru labor?" asked the other doctor.

"Yeah it is, but we're not sure it's a coma though. Her signs her stable for now," answered Kagome's doctor, putting her chart in the tray at the nurse's desk.

Ranma stood at the door and eavesdropped on their conversation some more.

"It seems like she's in a coma," argued the other doctor.

"We'll know more in the morning whether it is one or not," said the girl's doctor.

"What have you told her husband?" wondered the other physician.

"That she might wake up in a few hours. A day or 2 at most," replied the young woman's doctor.

"You didn't tell him she has a 50 chance of not ever waking up? That she might die in a few days?" asked the other man.

"I couldn't. His wife just gave birth to their first child. I didn't have the heart to tell him he might've lost his wife in the same day," admitted Kagome's doctor.

Ranma didn't want to hear anymore. He shut the door with a click and returned to his wife's side. "Come on, Kags. Please wake up," he said to her quietly, taking her hand in his own again. The young man looked at her face as she laid there. The thought of her being dead was something Ranma never wanted to think about before, but now it was all he could think of. He couldn't bring himself to picture life without her by his side. He shook his head and banished all thoughts of her dying from his mind. He told himself, _Kagome's stronger than that. She'll pull through, just like mom said she would._

A few hours passed and Ranma continued to keep an eye on Kagome. Even though there was a t.v. in the room the young man kept his gaze on his wife, looking and hoping for anything, a slight movement that would indicate her waking up and he wanted to be awake when it happened. With night falling 3 or 4 hours ago it was difficult for him to remain awake, especially after more than 24 hours of no sleep. Ranma found himself nodding off, only to jerk his head back up, eyes wide as if he might miss his wife's awakening. It wasn't long before he put his head down and drifted to sleep.

--

Ranma had little Aya over his shoulder as he carried her up to her room, bouncing her and making her giggle with each step he took. He chuckled when he felt his daughter grab hold of his pigtail and put it in her mouth as he reached the top of the stairs. Opening the door to her room he said, "Okay princess, time for your nap," and he placed her in her crib. "Daddy's gonna need this back," he told her, taking his pigtail out of her grip and replacing it with a stuffed panda bear. Then he covered her with a blanket and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight, sweetie," he said, pulling away. Before he could get too far Aya reached out and grabbed his nose. "Ah, ya got me," laughed the man, taking her hand and kissing the back of it, "Sleep tight."

Shutting the door behind him, Ranma made his way back downstairs. He stopped at the entrance into the kitchen and asked, "Mom, care to tell me again why you're here?"

Nodoka smiled at her son, "Besides wanting to see my only grandchild, I had to get away from your father for a while."

"So why are you in the kitchen?" wondered the young man, "I'm capable of making dinner myself."

"Since I'm here I didn't think you'd mind a mother's meal," answered his mom, "You don't mind, do you?"

"No I don't mind, mom, " said Ranma, rolling his eyes when his mother's back was turned. "Well mom, could you watch Aya for me?" asked the young man, walking towards the front door, "I'm going out for a little bit."

"Sweetheart," said Nodoka, coming out of the kitchen.

"Yeah?" replied her son.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just out,' answered Ranma.

"You're going to see Kagome, aren't you?" wondered the woman.

"So?" responded her boy.

"Honey, it's been a year since it happened. Don't you think it's time to move on?" asked Nodoka, "Don't you want Aya to have a mother?"

"Aya has a mother, mom," argued Ranma, "And despite what happened Kagome's still my wife. Besides, Aya and I have gotten by fine on our own."

"But maybe you could find a nice woman to help you raise Aya? She's going to need someone to go to when she gets older," the woman pointed out.

"She already has someone: you, mom," replied her son, opening the door, "I'll be back in a bit," and then he was out the door before his mom could say another word.

Closing the door behind him Ranma said to himself, _I have thought about moving on, mom, about finding someone new. But if I did, wouldn't I be betraying Kagome? _

Walking down the street to his destination, the young man continued to think, _I do know one thing: Kags is one of a kind, no girl is ever gonna really be good enough to replace her. _Ranma looked down at the gold wedding band on his finger as he made his way and smiled, remembering that day.

**(Flashback)**

Standing in front of a mirror in his best: an army-green Chinese military uniform; Ranma could hear his father's voice inside his as he got ready, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

_It's been the same line ever since he found out about the engagement_, thought the young man, _But he won't take the hint: If I didn't want to, I wouldn't've asked her to marry me in the first place._

Staring at the image in the mirror as it looked back at him, Ranma lowered his eyes to the floor, _If our parents only understood how much we feel about each other we wouldn't be eloping like this. Kagome'd be in a _real_ wedding dress instead of a white dress she had to "borrow" from her mother. We'd have the money to put on a real ceremony instead of barely having enough to use the church for an hour or two. And there'd be a lot more guests than the small handful of friends with us now. But I guess that's what you get with parents that're unreasonable. I still can't figure out why Kagome's mom doesn't like me, not even Kags knows why. When she found out about us, she forbidden Kagome from seeing me, luckily for us Sango, Miroku and Shippo were glad to help us out with the planning of all this and with paying for it too._

**(End Flashback)**

Ranma stopped and looked up, for he was passing the same church where the wedding took place and said to himself, _And of course on that day it all came to a boil just as the ceremony was gettin' underway._

**(Flashback)**

"How do I look, Miroku?" Ranma asked as he left his dressing room.

"It's not a suit and tie, but it'll have to do," replied his Best Man.

"I wouldn't be complaining if I were you, having to wear your prom tux again," said Ranma jokingly.

"Well, I'm glad Sango agreed to wear her prom dress as well, seeing how we couldn't buy new outfits with our money gone," answered his friend with a smile, fixing his tie.

"I thought we agreed Kagome and I would pay you guys back when we can?" asked the young man.

"You did, I was only joking around. Sango and I don't mind wearing these again, honestly," responded Miroku, patting the groom-to-be on the back as they took their places at the alter.

Ranma looked out at the small group of friends that were there. There were only about a dozen of them, former classmates of his and Kagome's they considered to be close enough as friends to be invited. Shippo came out from a side door and walked up the aisle. When he was close enough he said, "They're ready," and then he took his place next to Miroku. The priest, who was standing there silently, opened his book and nodded to the organ player to being playing the march.

After a few bars Sango appeared in a pink dress, making her way up the aisle. Then came Kagome in the borrowed white dress without a bouquet of flowers, a train behind her or a veil to cover her face. The two girls took their time, slowly walking to the beat of the Wedding March and doing pretty well despite not having time to practice it before coming out. Ranma and Kagome locked eyes and smiled as the young man said to himself, _I kinda wish my mom was here to see this. The only one of my folks that had a beef with the whole engagement was pops. He wanted me to have a steady life before I started a family. But as I told him: I don't know how long it'll take for that to happen, but this way I Know I'll have somebody with me every step of the way._

As Kagome got halfway up the aisle, the front doors of the church opened up. Both teens looked back and their smiles disappeared, because their parents had found them. The March was halted mid-note as Kagome's mother took to a fast walk to reach her daughter.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" asked the girl in a hushed voice.

"I came to take you home," answered the woman in an angry tone.

"But I'm getting _married_," replied Kagome.

"No you're not, not if I have anything to say about it, missy. When we get home you're going to be in so much trouble, young lady," argued Asako.

By this time Ranma and his parents met up at the same spot. But they weren't able to talk, only watch, as Kagome's conversation with her mother became an argument.

"Why are you doing this to me?" asked the girl hotly.

"Because I'm looking out for your well-being," answered the woman.

"By stopping my wedding?" wondered Kagome.

"Yes, because you shouldn't be getting married in the first place and too least of all him," replied her mother.

"And what is that suppose to mean?" interjected Ranma, not liking the tone of the woman's voice.

"You know damn well what it means," answered Asako.

"Do not talk to my son that way!" said Nodoka as the two women exchanged angry looks.

"Stop it, all of you! What do you have against Ranma, mom?" asked the young bride-to-be, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I don't trust him," said her mom.

"But why?" wondered her daughter as small streaks of mascara started to fall down her cheeks.

"How do you know if he really loves you? He may say it, but does that make it true? I just don't want to see you get hurt by a boy that is only saying it so you will marry him," explained Asako.

"You think the only reason we're getting married is because _he_ says we should?" asked Kagome, trying to hold back her tears.

"I only want you to think about it before you go through with this. You don't think he's forcing you to marry him by saying he loves you and that you might be naive enough to believe him?" wondered the woman.

"I'm 18 years old, mom, I'm not your little girl anymore! I can make my own decisions!" shouted the girl, her voice breaking, closing her eyes as she said it, sending large droplets of makeup down her cheeks.

"You're barely 18, Kagome. Just out of high school. Don't you think you might be going a little too fast? If this is _your_ decision to get married, then you're making an immature choice. You aren't ready to get married yet and I, for one, will not let you go through with it," argued the woman, taking her daughter by the wrist.

She began to walk back down the aisle when Kagome pulled herself away from her mother's grasp.

"We both want this and we _will_ get married, with or without your blessing, mother," explained the girl, her voice strong again. She looked at her fiance, smiled and added, "You may not want to believe he loves me, but it's not what _you_ think that I care about. I know he does and that's what matters to me."

"I see," replied her mother in a heartless way, "Well then let me tell you something: If you do marry him, you'll get no help from me in the future, but I will be there to welcome you back when you discover I was right about him." And on that Asako stormed out of the church, leaving her daughter behind.

She stopped at the doors briefly as Kagome started to cry again as the young woman asked a question, "Why can't you be happy that I found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with?"

Opening the door, her mother replied in a cold tone, "Because I don't want to see you throw your life away over the first boy you fall for," and then she was gone.

Kagome couldn't hold it in anymore and so just let the tears out. Ranma went to hug her, but she turned away from him. The young woman shut her eyes tight, trying to stem the flow. She looked back at Ranma with her makeup in ruins and saw he had an apologetic look of sorrow on his face. Kagome glance around at all her friends that were there and noticed the looks on their faces matched her fiance's and that made her want to cry more, but she didn't want to stick around for anyone to see it.

But before she could move Nodoka took the girl into her arms and hugged her warmly. Unable to help herself, Kagome cried into the woman's shoulder as Ranma's mother patted her on the back like the experienced mother she is. The boy went to put a hand on his fiancee's shoulder, but Nodoka shook her head no and he pulled his hand back. The woman reached into her pocket, pulled out a napkin and began to wipe the smeared makeup off the girl's face.

"What are you doing?" asked Kagome, sniffling as the tears slowed.

Nodoka smiled at her and said, "It looked like you needed a mother's comforting touch."

"But you're not my mother, Mrs. Saotome," the girl pointed out, dropping her head.

"I will be in a few minutes, that is if you still want to get married today," replied the boy's mother, lifting the young woman's head up by the chin to look her in the eyes.

"What do you mean?" wondered Kagome.

"What I'm saying is I saw all I needed to see. I came here wanting to stop all this just like your mother wanted to do, but after watching you stand up to her, telling her how much in love you two are, it made me see the light. You two really love each other, I can see that now. I won't stand in your way and neither will my husband," explained Nodoka, smiling some more, "Right dear?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Genma, dropping his head like a trained dog.

"You mean it?" asked the young bride as a smile started to spread across her face.

"Yes, I do. Welcome to the family," answered the woman, nodding and hugging the girl again.

"Thank you, Mrs. Saotome!" exclaimed Kagome, happily.

"Thanks, mom," said Ranma, smiling as well.

Nodoka reached a hand out and placed it on her son's cheek, "Your welcome, you two. Now go on and finish what you started."

Kagome took Ranma's arm and the young couple walked down the aisle while their friends gave them a round of applause and his parents sat down in the pew as the organ started up again.

**(End Flashback)**

_After that the wedding went off without a hitch. We said our vows, kissed and we're pronounced Husband and Wife. It was the happiest moment of our lives up to that point,_ thought Ranma, still walking towards his destination. He glanced up at the late summer, early night sky, sighed and thought some more, _We were thankful my parents were so helpful to us the first few months. Helping us find an apartment and pay rent as we got started out. _

The smile on his face dimmed a bit as his thoughts turned to Kagome's family, _Staying true to her word, Kagome's mom didn't help out at all. Even when Kags called her, she wouldn't talk, just handed the phone to either gramps or the squirt. Luckily they made up for it. Her grandpa would send a little money; without her mom knowing of course; to us every month to help out and though Sota didn't do much, we were grateful nonetheless. _

Stopping again, this time at a flower stand, the young man paid for a single red rose as he said to himself, _But then something happened six months after the wedding that changed everyone's lives and it seemed to heal the wounds between Kagome and her mother._

**(Flashback)**

The look on Asako's face was plain to everyone there that she didn't like being forced to go anywhere she didn't want to and she didn't want to be in the Saotome home, supposedly waiting on some sort of an announcement. But after an urgent call from Kagome, Sota and her father-in-law convinced the woman to come along with them despite her protests. Ranma and Kagome were standing in the doorway separating the kitchen and the living room where their friends and families were gathered. The young woman was smiling and biting her lower lip while holding hands with her husband who was smiling also.

"What's the big news that was _so_ important you had to pull Miroku and me from our movie date?" asked Sango.

"Yeah," agreed Shippo.

"Well..." started Kagome, looking at Ranma, but stopped herself short.

"We asked you all here because something kinda unexpected happened," he added.

"Spit it out, boy," demanded Genma.

"We're pregnant!" shouted the girl, unable to keep it in anymore.

"What!?" wondered everyone at the same time.

"We just found out today, we're gonna have a baby!" explained Kagome.

"That's wonderful news," said Nodoka, being the first one to give them a hug.

"Thanks, Mrs. Saotome," replied the girl as the others started to congratulate them.

"That's my boy!" exclaimed Genma, giving his son a slap on the back.

The only person that hadn't moved was Asako. She just sat there with a slightly shocked look about her. After receiving a hug and a handshake from all the others, Ranma and Kagome found themselves standing in front of Kagome's mother. She looked up at her smiling daughter and then stood up slowly.

"You okay, mom?" the girl asked.

Before she knew it her mother was hugging her and crying into her shoulder, "Congratulations, dear."

"Thanks, mom," replied the young woman.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me for not believing you two were in love," confessed Asako, "I've been so stubborn and hardheaded that I didn't want to admit I was wrong."

"Like mother, like daughter," said Ranma with a smile.

Kagome responded by jabbing her elbow into his stomach, "Ranma!"

Her mother gave a chuckle as she gave her daughter another hug.

**(End Flashback)**

_Since that day Kagome's mom was a lot more helpful. She prepared Kags over the next few months on what to expect during a pregnancy. She was a lot more supportive of us and it meant a great deal to Kagome to have her mom helping her,_ thought Ranma, standing in front of the local hospital as he looked up at the windows on the higher levels.

_With a grandchild on the way, my parents did something unexpected. They gave us the deed to their home and insisted we move in and they would take the apartment. We refused but they wouldn't take no for an answer. They wanted their grandchild to have everything I did when growing up like a yard to run around in, _he said to himself with a little chuckle.

Ranma's smile faded as another thought hit him, _But then came the accident at this hospital and Kags ended up the way she is. Soon after her mother began blaming me for what happened and removed herself from the picture again only to show up a couple of months later, seeking custody of Aya. Her claim was that if wasn't for me, Kagome would still be around and she should have custody of Aya because of it, so she could have something that reminded her of her daughter and she would raise her like Kagome would want her to be raised, but the judge didn't buy it. The judge said what happened to Kagome was a pure accident. There was no evidence of foul play by me and Asako's claim was thrown out of court and I kept custody of Aya. Soon after the woman disappeared once more and I haven't heard from her since._

He sighed and continued on his way past the hospital. His destination wasn't much farther. When he got there he made his way over to Kagome. It was easy since she hasn't moved form the same place since she went there. Ranma put the rose in the vase nearby to accompany two daisies that were put there a week before by him and Aya. "Hey Kags," he said, though he knew he wouldn't get an answer.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to see you in a week. Everything's been so hectic lately. My last job didn't go well, so right now I'm between jobs. But the good thing is I'm also taking night classes so I can get a better paying job for when Aya goes to school in a few years. That way I'll be ready to pay for it," he chuckled.

"Oh, you should see how big she's getting and I've noticed how she acts like you sometimes. She can get so stubborn when she doesn't want to eat what you're trying to feed her," he laughed.

The young man sat down, laid back in the grass and looked up to the sky, "Hey remember how when we first started dating we used to stare up at the stars?"

Then he sat up, putting his knees against his chest and he dropped his gaze to the ground, remembering his original train of thought instead of trying to change the subject.

"There are other things I've noticed," the boy continued, the humor in his voice being replaced by sorrow, "Like how much she looks like you. Her hair is the same and many of the features she has are from you," he quietly sniffed as tears began to well up in his eyes, "And I swear, Kags, when she looks at me with those eyes, I see you looking at me too."

The young man rested his chin on his knees and closed his eyes, allowing the tears stored there to fall.

"I miss you so much, Kagome. I'd give anything to have you back, absolutely anything," he told her, "I loved you more than life itself. Why did you have to go?"

He looked at Kagome only to have a white and black, marble tombstone staring back at him. Ranma glanced down and read the epitaph like he has over the hundreds of times he's visited her:

**Kagome Saotome**

**Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mother. But most of all: A Friend.**

Picking his head up, the young man scanned the cemetery and saw he was alone. He then scooted himself closer to the gravestone and put his forehead against it. He didn't take notice it was soft instead of being cold and hard like it should have been. Ranma closed his eyes again, letting more stored-up tears fall as he began to quietly sing a song to better show how he felt at the moment:

_I open my eyes  
__I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light  
__I can't remember how  
__I can't remember why  
__I'm lyin' here tonight  
__And I can't stand the pain  
__And I can't make it go away  
__No I can't stand the pain_

_How could this happen to me?  
__I've made my mistakes  
__Got nowhere to run  
__The night goes on  
__As I'm fadin' away  
__I'm sick of this life  
__I just wanna scream  
__How could this happen to me?_

_Everybody's screamin'  
__I try to make a sound but no one hears me  
__I'm slippin' off the edge  
__I'm hangin' by a thread  
__I wanna start this over again  
__  
So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered  
__And I can't explain what happened  
__And I can't erase the things that I've done  
__No I can't_

_How could this happen to me?  
__I've made my mistakes  
__Got nowhere to run  
__The night goes on  
__As I'm fadin' away  
__I'm sick of this life  
__I just wanna scream  
__How could this happen to me?_

_I've made my mistakes  
__Got nowhere to run  
__The night goes on  
__As I'm fading away  
__I'm sick of this life  
__I just wanna scream  
__How could this happen to me?_

When he finished the last line, the young man sighed and started to cry. He draped an arm over the marble stone as a gentle breeze blew across his hair.

_Ranma..._

"Kagome," he sobbed, "I want you back so badly I can hear your voice in my head."

_Ranma... _

The gentle breeze continued to blow across the back of his head, but not anywhere else.

"What is this? Are you trying to contact me from beyond the grave, Kagome?" he wondered, shutting his eyes once more, "I just wish I could see your smiling face once again, if only for a moment."

_Ranma..._

He kept his eyes closed while still crying without an end before everything all around him went black.

--

Opening his eyes, Ranma blinked a few times so he could adjust his eyesight to the morning light. When his vision came to him he lifted his head slightly and noticed he had laid it upon the edge of a bed and there were beeping sounds around him as well.

Then he felt a hand stroke his hair and a familiar voice say, "Good morning."

The young man jerked his head up not believing his ears, then he couldn't believe his eyes. Kagome was sitting up and smiling at him as if nothing had happened.

"Kagome!" he said, jubilantly hugging her, catching her off guard with it.

"Ranma?" she asked, surprised, not sure what to make of her husband's actions.

He kissed her below the ear and said, "I was afraid I lost you."

"What?" wondered his wife, before he explained what he overheard during the doctors' conversation.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"Long enough to hear you singing in your sleep," she answered, "What were you dreaming about?"

Then he told her as much as he could about the dream he had. It left her almost speechless, all she managed to say about it was "Wow."

"But I'm glad it was only a dream, Kagome," he admitted, hugging her again.

"Me too," she agreed, hugging him back, "Me too."

Just then the door opened and the young woman's doctor walked in with his eyes on her chart as he came in, turned around and shut the door behind him. Ranma and Kagome separated themselves as the physician turned back around and looked up.

"Oh, Mrs. Saotome, I see you're awake," he said.

"Yep," she replied, smiling at him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better than if I was in a coma," she told him, without a smile this time.

"Huh?" wondered her doctor, confused.

"I heard you talking to that other doctor last night after you checked on Kagome," said Ranma, "I told her what I overheard."

"Oh, I see," chuckled the doctor, before he explained, "The other doctor glanced at your wife's chart before I came in to check on her and was ready to diagnose it as a coma and berated me for not scheduling the test to confirm it already. But I told him I wasn't as convinced as he was. When I was done with the check up he wanted me to agree with him as soon as I came out of the room. I went along with what he said just to get him off my back. Though if she hadn't of woken up by this morning I was going to schedule the test. But as you can see they aren't necessary now."

Ranma dropped his head and apologized to the doctor.

"It's okay, sir," said the man as he gave Kagome another checkup, "If I was in your position hearing the same things as you did, I'd probably react in the same way."

The last thing the doctor did was check on Kagome's I.V. and the beeping monitors around her.

"Everything looks to be in order," reported the doctor, writing things down on her chart, "Vitals are normal, B.P. and pulse are excellent and there doesn't seem to be any visible brain damage as far as I can see, but we'll have to keep you here overnight for observation."

"Alright," replied Kagome, taking her husband's hand, "Is it okay with you?"

"Yeah sure, it's fine," agreed Ranma, smiling at his wife.

"Thank you. You people have a nice day," said her doctor, walking towards the door.

"Excuse me?" intervened the young woman.

"Yes?" wondered the physician, turning around as he put his hand on the knob.

"If it isn't too much trouble, can we see our daughter? We didn't get to look at her after the delivery," asked Kagome.

"I'll have a nurse bring her up," replied the physician, opening the door and shutting it behind him.

About 10 minutes later a nurse entered the room carrying the child, wrapped up in a blanket. The woman handed the baby over to the waiting arms of her mother.

"Aww, look at her, she's beautiful," said Kagome, gently holding onto her half-asleep daughter.

"Yeah, she's very beautiful," agreed Ranma, sitting on the bed next to his wife.

They smiled at the infant as her arms shook a bit as she gave them a big yawn.

"Pardon me," interrupted the nurse.

"Yeah?" replied the new mother, looking up.

"Maybe you can help us with something," said the woman.

"Like what?" wondered the young man.

"Last night we had a man come down to the nursery claiming to be her grandfather. He told us her name was Ginma, named after him. About a minute or so later a woman, who said she was the grandmother, showed up and said the name of the baby was Aya. Very rarely do we allow 'grandparents' to name a baby before the parents do. We can't give her a name until you let us know what it is," explained the nurse.

Ranma shook his head and groaned, "Stupid old man."

"You know them?" asked the woman.

"Yeah, they're his parents," answered Kagome, "And her name is Aya. Aya Syani Saotome to be precise."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll go take care of that and let the 3 of you bond some more," replied the nurse, shutting the door behind her.

Ranma looked down at his daughter and his wife and smiled again watching Kagome hold little Aya with care.

"Ya know what?" he asked.

"What?" said the young woman, looking up at her husband.

He put an arm around her and told her, "This is the happiest moment of my life."

"Mine too," she agreed, giving him a small kiss on the lips.

He chuckled and added, "And if this is a dream, I don't _ever_ wanna wake up."

"Same here," said Kagome with a big smile on her face as the two young parents kissed again.

**The  
****End**

* * *

Writer's note's: (1) Asako is not the real name of Kagome's mother. Thing is, no one knows her real name (at least not among _my_ circle of friends which includes one friend who knows about everything you could possibly know about Inuyasha). I just use that name because it's the name a very close friend of mine; who also writes fanfiction here of (Inu Hanyou Babe); and I gave to her so we didn't have to keep writing "Kagome's mother" or "her mom" and the like all the time.

Please leave a review if you want. Any advice you feel needs to be given is greatly appreciated. It'll help me become a better writer and help me in writing better stories for you to read, so everybody wins!

Song used: Untitled by Simple Plan

Thank you and I hoped you enjoyed this story!


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